Tag Archives: koalachord

I am a believer in certain fundamental truths, an idiosyncracy that is a little at odds with my personality on a whole. But I believe that when the day comes to a close there are things that remain unmoved, words that sustain their meaning despite the shifting of the polar plates, and feelings that though untangible, cannot be swayed, mutated or poisoned. These fundamental truths are the sum of my core values.

I believe Tom Selleck is a moustachio master.

I believe that milk should never be taken inward from a pint glass.

I believe a lot of things about milk. Mostly that it is ungodly.

I believe that Morrissey is a fallen angel, and I believe that indiepop is underrated.

There is a lot of really cool things about the Irish Music Scene at the moment, ironically capitalised, because in a weird way there is no consistent factor that makes it even feel like a ‘scene’, other than a relatively tangible geographical banding. There are bands like Adebisi Shank who, for me, just make it worth getting out of bed in the morning. There are artists like the previously blogged Villagers that are managing to break beyond the Irish Scene yet feel, at once, an authentic representation of it. For me though, the coolest thing might just be Popical Island.

Popical Island : I want to go to there

An indiepop collective that started somewhere I do not know, Popical Island is every awesome artist and musician in Dublin (and beyond) that I have been listening to on one succulent compilation, boinged and wrapped in the most delicious album art this side of everything Belle and Sebastian ever did, ever. Although there is a vast variety of eclectic acts on the compilation, perhaps the most impressive thing is the overall cohesion of the record, something that is made even more impressive when you think about the fact that the sounds on this album are far from the ones that spring to mind when you think about what’s going on in Dublin right now.

As I’ve said above though, I’m a huge fan of indiepop and twee music, from a childhood obsession with Sarah Records to the twenty two year old’s inability to accept when anything that isn’t The Wave Pictures is prefaced with the statement ‘holy crap, this is the best thing in the world’, so it wasn’t a stretch of my sensibilities to like this compilation. It’s quite difficult then to pick standout tracks, since I want to eat the entire thing with Ballymalloe relish, but because I expect it of myself, if not from others, I will bless you with three;

Land Lovers, ‘Is Nowhere Far Away Anymore’, because it’s immensely crafted, funny and poignant; Pantone247, ‘Maybe Tonight’ because it’s lovely and sad and the best indie songs are the ones that convince you you’re happy only to shred your insides in a grinder; And finally, ‘Mysteries of Life’ by Groom because its pure exhileration, and actually probably my favourite of the three.

For anyone who is reading this and salivating at the thought of handclaps, boys in knitted jumpers and a whole lot of heart, the compilation is streaming over at the Popical Islands Bandcamp for the next week or so, and on July 19th you can catch almost the entirety of the tracklisting manifesting themselves as real life people, on stage in an epic seven hour gigathon, upstairs in Whelans. Festivities commence at 3 and the running order is soon to be announced, so peel your eyes.

Obsessing over brilliant Irish records since... 2010. Ahem. Check the 'About' section for more details. Currently not accepting any non-Irish submissions, but happy to receive email of any kind. It just takes me a while to get back.